Military Personnel Commit Abuses against Rohingya Vehicle Owners

A military staff misuses his authorities to commit abuses against the local Rohingya vehicle owners in Buthidaung and extort money from them, a reliable source reports

R-Vision TV News

(Buthidaung) – A military staff named Sann Win [sic] from Division 15 in Buthidaung Township has been misusing his senior’s officer’s name to threaten Rohingya vehicle owners for ransom.

It has been learnt that the military staff along with his 15-16 Rakhine (Magh) friends has started asking a ransom amount of Kyat 25,000 from every Rohingya vehicle owner such as motorcycle-taxi owner and motorcycle owner.

“They say whether you use motor-vehicles for personal purpose or commercial one, it doesn’t really matter. You give us Kyat 25,000 every month. Else, we will seize your vehicle.

Till date, they have seized many vehicles because their owners refuse to make the ransom,” a local in Buthidaung said.

“The people there are too poor. They hardly make their daily ends meet because there is no employment opportunities for them,” he added.

He has set up a gate named ‘Saing Taing Taxi Gate’ on the highway in southern Buthidaung, where he deploys his Rakhine (Magh) henchmen and makes them extort money from the passing-by Rohingya vehicles. When the vehicle owners refuse to pay money, they call him (the military staff) and make him harass and humiliate them.